Collection · 10 places · 2 tidal

Castles & Forts

Six centuries of defence — from a medieval castle on a rock to Victorian forts on the headlands.

An island twelve miles from France has always needed walls. Jersey's start with Mont Orgueil, the great medieval castle above Gorey, and Grosnez, its ruined cousin on the north-west cliffs. When cannon made them obsolete, Elizabeth Castle went up on an islet in St Aubin's Bay. The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries added a ring of smaller forts — St Aubin's on its rock, La Crête and Fort Leicester on the north coast, Fort Henry among the dunes at Grouville — and finally Fort Regent, the last and largest, built on the hill above St Helier for a war that never came.

Some are museums, some are ruins you can wander at will, and two of them are cut off by the tide twice a day. Together they tell the whole story of who Jersey was afraid of, and when.

Collect every one to earn the Castles & Forts card.

2 tidal stops on this trail — Elizabeth Castle (amphibious ferry, any tide), St Aubin's Fort. On foot they are only reachable around low water. Read the tidal guide and check live tide times (gov.je) before you set out.